which they say happens frequently in the great and sandy Desarts But these are very few and I suppose as easily blown asunder as brought together However these deserve here no particular consideration This rising of the Earth in large Continents is doubtless very great tho none either have or will ever be at the trouble and charge to measure it yet some estimation may be made by the length and swiftness of Rivers It is commonly said that a Ship is not able to sail against that stream whose declivity is one pace in an hundred yet some declivity there must be and as they say seldom is it less then one in five hundred Suppose then the Nile which runs in the greatest Continent Africk which we know in the world it disembogues into the Mediterranean Sea in 31 deg of Northerly Latitude and ariseth out of the Lake Zaire which is in 10 deg or as some say 14 of Southerly Latitude in all 41 deg which comes to about 2460 miles English if running streight but because of its bendings it may be well estimated 3000 miles which allowing two foot to a mile comes to six thousand feet if it move with as slow a motion as can be but considering that it is a swift River the mud not setling till it come to the Sea and hath in it divers great Cataracts the Lake of Zaire must needs be much higher then the mouth of Nilus But the height of mountains is more certainly and easily known and divers of them have been measured as one of the highest hills betwixt Yorkshire and Lancashire Pendle-hill if I be not mis-informed was not found to exceed half a mile in perpendicular height Olympus somewhat above a mile and some others as El Pico in the Isle of Teneriffe yet higher But the certainty we know not The manner of measuring and calculating is thus which is much easier in such a mountain as Teneriff or Pendle-hill being one peak or top standing in a plain then in those Juga or ledges of mountains which run thro and divide most of the great Continents of the world whereof the highest may be still higher then the other Let b c d represent a mountain whose height a c is thus found Take two stations in a straight line from it the first at b not far from the foot the other at e a considerable distance from it from each of these stations take the angles at the top b c a e c a then out of 90 subduct b c a the remainder is the angle c b a which also being subducted from 90 the remainder is the angle c b e. Therefore in the triangle c b e we have one side e b viz. the distance of the two stations which must be exactly measured and all the angles for c e b is the complement of the other two to 180 then say As the sine of the angle e c b is to the side e b So is the sine of the angle c e b to b c. Having then in the rectangular triangle b c a one side b c and all the angles for a b c is the complement of b c a to 90 say then As the Radius is to the sine of b c a So is b c to c a the height By the Quadrat Divide 10000 by the number of parts cut at each station then say As the difference of the Quotients is to the distance betwixt the statitions So is 100 to the height This great Globe is not only divided into Land and Water Divisions of the Earth but many other ways in respect to them As some are Continents which are great parts of Land without any Sea Islands are small parts encompassed by water Peninsula or Chersonesus is a part of Land which would be called an Island were it not for an Isthmus or neck of land which joins it to the Continent A Mountain or Rock jutting out into the Sea is called a Promontory Cape or Headland Again the Ancients divided all they knew of the Earth into three parts Europe Asia and Africa of each of these in their several places but another Hemisphere having been lately discovered there is commonly added to these America as the fourth part Others also name two more the Lands under the North and South Poles which indeed were not comprehended in the former division yet because we know not whether there be Land or only Sea as under the North Pole seems to be it is not expedient to account them distinct parts till better discovered Our Mariners that went with design to pass under or near the North Pole in their search of a passage to China and arrived as far as 82 deg of Latitude found nothing but some few Islands the rest as they could see being in the midst of Summer nothing but Ice Some do imagine that the three parts of the habitable world received their division from the three Sons of Noah and C ham indeed obtained Africa but Japhet dwelt in the Tents or habitations of Shem tho in process of time his posterity seems to have peopled the greatest part of Europe The reason of the names we despair of knowing they having been forgotten even in Herodotus's time there is no hopes now of retrieving them See the discourse concerning the Map of Europe Lastly the parts of the Land before-mentioned The particular observations in the descriptions are very opportune for the separating and distinguishing Countries Nations and Governments The knowledge and consideration whereof is the chiefest and most useful design of this whole Work and all others of the like nature For it little conduceth to know places unless we be also informed of what is contained what actions performed and what concerns our selves may have in them In those therefore we shall consider the names situation bounds of each Country as also what Cities Havens Towns Forts likewise what Mountains Valleys Caves Fountains and other such remarkable and to us and our Country unusual things as nature it self hath formed To which shall be added the condition and quality of the soil and its productions in order to the discovering what in every place abounds and what therein may be communicated to other Countries or what may probably be carried to them in order to trade In every Nation also account shall be given of their original Language Manners Religion Employments c. that if any art or science useful to society be there eminent it may be transferred into our own Country Much more considerable are their Governments Civil and Military their Magistrates Laws Assemblies Courts Rewards and Punishments and such like Neither must we omit the manner of educating their youth in arts liberal and mechanick taught in their Schools Universities Monasteries Shops also and the like Their manner of providing for their poor of all sorts either in Hospitals or Workhouses Lastly it will be expected that we give an account of the History or actions and successes of each
that they could not endure their clothes but wrought in their shirts The south part of Hudsons Bay he call'd Mare Novum that part towards Groneland Mare Christianum He arriv'd in 63 deg 20 min. where he winter'd and call'd it Muncks Winter-harbour and the country New Denmark it seems to be near Diggs Island In that long winter he there endured little of note happen'd but that in April it rained and then came thither vast quantities of fowls of divers sorts to breed in those quiet undisturbed places Of all his company which was forty-six in one Ship and sixteen in the Pinnace scarce so many were left alive as were able to bring the Pinnace thorow very horrid dangers to their own country In 1636 The Gronelandish Society at Copenhagen sent two Ships which arrived at Fretum Davis near to which the Pilot found a black sand which he conceived to contain considerable quantity of Gold wherewith he freighted his Ship neglecting further discovery Returning to Denmark and his Sand after examination being found to contain no Gold at all he was so severely blamed by the President of the Society and so ashamed to be mistaken that he dyed with grief And since that nothing more known of any adventures that way from Denmark If any one desire to know what became of the eight Gronelanders Gronelanders 〈◊〉 Denmark brought at several times into Denmark the account is this The King commanded great care should be taken of them appointed certain persons to attend them to give them liberty enough so as they prevented their escape No necessary or convenience was wanting their food such as they could eat milk butter cheese flesh and fish but raw They could eat no bread nor boil'd meat but nothing so much abhorr'd by them as wine or brandy Their pleasantest beuvrage was train-oyl But whatever was done to or for them could never take away that melancholy and chagrin which they continually lived in for the want of their beloved country They could never be brought to learn much of the Danish language or to apprehend any thing of Christian Religion Three of them were sent back towards their own country 1606 the most towardly and hopeful who might serve for interpreters and brokers to the Danes but two of them Oxo and Omeg died in the Ship and the third because the Danes durst not land or trade by reason of the great numbers of natives that appear'd in arms on the coast ready to revenge them that had been before carried away was brought back into Denmark to his former treatment An Ambassador arriving there from Spain the King was pleased to shew him those Savages and their dexterity in rowing which was by all the spectators admired The Ambassador sending them money one of them had the courage to buy him clothes after the Danish fashion got a feather in his cap boots and spurs and all things ala cavaliere he came also to the King and desired to serve him but this fervor was quickly decay'd and the poor man returned to his sadness and complaints Some of them endeavoured to get to Sea in their little boats but being retrieved dyed of melancholy Two lived divers years at Koldingen in Jutland where they were employed in diving for Pearl-Muscles in which their skill and dexterity was such that every one that saw them believed they had practised the same employment in their own country Such success they had that the Governor promised himself great profit thereby and that in a short time he should sell Pearls by the quart if they continued But his covetousness destroyed his gain for not content with what they fished in summer he also compelled them under the ice in winter time where one of them fell into such a disease from the cold so contracted that he dyed After whose death the other never enjoyed himself but finding an opportunity he got his little Boat and before he was overtaken got to the main Sea But being brought back they represented to him the impossibility of his ever getting home to Groneland but he sleighted their advice and told them that he intended to go northward so far and when he was there the stars would direct him into his own country The country is mostly all high-land and mountains cover'd with snow all the year The Soil c. but the southern parts more than the northern They have very little or no wood growing there except some few bushes and not many plants or herbs consequently not many beasts there nourished but their chief subsistence is upon fishing There are divers mountains which promise rich mines of mettal and some have been found to contain it actually others only to make a shew The inhabitants know neither sowing nor planting tho the soil seem'd to be fertil and pleasant especially between the mountains The northern parts by reason of the terrible ice and cold are wholly undiscovered the southern consist of many Islands different in shapes and bigness which seems to be the reason that in these Seas are many and various strong currents and as Ivor Boty saith very many dangerous whirlpools towards the west and north none of which however have been found by our Mariners The country seems much subject to earthquakes else very healthful only it was observed that those who went thither infected with any Venereal disease grew worse immediately and could not there be cured Which they attributed to the purity of the air perhaps they might have done it more rationally to the cold Ivor Boty speaks much also of their great numbers of Cows and Sheep Beasts but our men found no beasts there but Bears Foxes very many of which are black Rain-Deer and Dogs whereof are two sorts a bigger which they use to draw their Sleds and a lesser which they feed for their tables Our men observed this peculiarity both in their Foxes and Dogs that their pizzles were of bone Tho it is very likely that there are the same sorts which are in Lapland and Samoieda but our men have not searched any more than the shoars both because of their short stay and the treachery of the inhabitants Of Fishes there is great both plenty and variety Whales Fishes Seals Dog-fish but in these are caught the greatest quantity of Sea-Vnicorns whose horns are so much esteemed and kept as rarities in the Cabinets of Princes The natives here are so well stored with it that they have sufficient both for truck and their own use They make of them besides other utensils swords and heads for their darts and arrows which they work and grind with stones till they make them as sharp-piercing as ours This horn grows in the snout of the fish and is his weapon wherewith he fears not to fight the Whale and to assault and sometimes endanger a Ship The fish it self is as large as an Ox very strong swift and hard to be caught except left on the shore by the tide or entangled
the most northern Country at the Polar Circle contains about 44 deg on the Meridian which make about 2640 English miles Europe conteins in it several Kingdoms Division the greatest of which is the Empire of Muscovy or Russia on the north-east comprehending several Nations more to the north-east scarce known to us and on the east Cazan and other Countries by the River Volga and part of Lapland on the north-west Next to Muscovy on the west lies the Kingdom of Sweden containing great part of Finland on the east and all to the mountains of Norway on the west Again to the east of Europe by the Caspian Sea lies the Country of the Circassi and the Kingdom of the Lesser Tartary and some other lesser Provinces Thence south-west lies the Kingdom of Poland extending it self thro the midst of Europe from the Baltic to the Euxin Sea comprehending on the north Prussia Litvania Lifland on the east Volinia Podolia and southward Moldavia Walachia Northwest of Poland lies Germany under several Princes the Emperor being the chief North of Germany lies the Kingdom of Denmark to the west Flanders or the Low Countries under divers Governments and north-west of them the Kingdom of Great Brittain comprehending several Islands South-west of Germany lies the Kingdom of France more south the Kingdom of Spain full south Italy under several Princes South-east of Germany lies the greatest part of European Turky as Hungary Transylvania and more south Croatia Dalmatia and all Greece There are in Europe Empires c. three Empires that of Muscovy the Roman Empire and the Empire of the Turks Ten Kingdoms Sweden Denmark Poland Hungary Bohemia England France Spain Portugal and the Lesser Tartary Nine Common-wealths and about forty Principalities of which when we come to particular Countries â—riginal Languages The principal Languages spoken in the northern and western parts of Europe may be reckon'd these three the ancient Gothic the Anglo-Saxonic and the Francic which also seem to be near akin or to have great affinity one with another and the later to be made up of the two former From the Gothic which differs little from the old Greek are derived the ancient Cimbric and the modern languages now spoken in Sweden Denmark Norway Iseland The Anglo-Saxonic may seem to have given birth to the Belgic or Low Dutch especially the ancient Frisic and in great part to the English and Scotch The Francic is compounded of the other two and seems to be the same with the Alamannic or Theotisc whence the upper German language takes its original The ancient British which seems also to be the Celtish or Gaulish the dialects whereof are still spoken in some parts of Great Britain and in Britannia in France The Cantabric also or the language of the Biscainers in the northern mountains in Spain is not much different And likewise the Irish if not it self a dialect of the old Cimbric as it seems to be must be accounted an original language The Turkish language is generally spoken in European Turky and also Arabic is well understood by their learned men as being the language of the Alkoran and is spoken in some of the Mountains of Granada The Inhabitants of the Lesser Tartary that live between Tanais and the Neiper speak the Tartarian language as also the Cossacs with some small difference The Fins and Laplanders seem to have divers languages both from one another and from all the rest The Paisan-Liflanders likewise have a different language to themselves The Sclavonic language whether originally one or many is still continued in divers Regions of Europe as in the dominions of the Emperor of Russia divers countries subject to the King of Poland in some parts of Hungary but the Hungarian tongue properly so call'd is by the learned accounted an original language Bohemia and Sclavonia but with greater difference than dialects of the same language use to be The ancient Greek seems to have been the mother of the old Hetruscan Oscan Menapian and such others as were spoken anciently in Italy as may appear by those few remainders still extant of them and therefore also of the Latin in the opinion of many learned as the Latin is of the present Italian French Spanish Grison and some other languages The Greek it self tho with great alteration is still continued in the Continent and Islands of Greece and some places near thereunto The glory of Europe is its Religion Religion which in most parts of it is but one tho diversly professed Greece with its Islands in the Egean Sea and others as far as Corfu as also some parts of Croatia Dalmatia together with Muscovia Walachia Moldavia Podolia Volinia and some other parts of the dominions of Poland with other neighbouring Countries follow the Greek Church The Latin Church conteins 1 Those of the Reform'd Religion and 2 Those of the Roman 1. The Reformed Religion is embraced in Great Brittain and Ireland and the lesser Islands belonging to the Crown of England And with some diversity in Sweden Denmark Holland and the rest of the Vnited Provinces and several parts of Germany Transylvania and some parts of the Kingdom of Poland 2. The Roman Religion prevails in Italy Spain Portugal France Poland and the greatest part of the German Empire and other Countries Mahumetanism is professed in European Turky by the Great Turk and his Musselmen The great ledg of Mountains that has its beginning at the great Western Ocean Mountains first divides France and Spain by the name of the Pirenean Hills and is thence continued thro the south parts of France till it cover Italy and is there call'd the Alps a branch of which running thro the whole length of Italy has the name of the Apennine Mountains another branch is continued under divers names as the Rhetian-Hills thro the country now called of the Grisons Alpes Graiae Noricae Juliae c. all which have now divers names according to the several countries thro which they pass From Italy they continue thro Stiria Carinthia Hungary Transylvania Moldavia to the Black Sea and branch out into divers other countries of all which we shall treat more exactly in the particular descriptions The Mountains of the north are not much discover'd one ledg of them is continued from the Baltic to the northern Ocean dividing Norway from the neighbouring Nations Those in the utmost north anciently call'd Riphaei and Hyperborei have at this day lost those names consequently they are unknown except they be those which are by the inhabitants call'd Welikicamenopoias i. e. Cingulum mundi or the great Rocky Girdle of which as also of other Mountains not here mentioned in their proper and particular places The Seas that coast Europe Seas are the Northern and Western Ocean the Mediterranean Sea and the Euxin or Black Sea which also contein in them several lesser Seas Bays Streights c. and have different names from the different shoars they wash as Mare
mony they presently begun to set up Mints and Coin peices of their own which they did so accurately that most Nations have granted that the art of coining was here first brought to perfection Whence the Learned Sr. Henry Spelman thinks our English word Sterling came from the Easterlings who coming out of Prussia first taught the art of refining and coining purer silver in England then before their coming had been made use of The species of mony currant at this day in Prussia are these 1. A Schilling which contains six pence or Pfennings none of which are now in use in single peices 2. A Gross which consists of three Schillings Twenty of these Grosses make 3. A Mark. 4. A Gulder is made of thirty Grosses 5. A Dollar or Thaler is worth three Gulders Two Dollars make 6. A Ducate valued at nine shillings English These are the most ordinary and proper Coins of Prussia though Swedish and Danish mony is currant too Some of the late Prussian writers will have the word Schilling fetch its name from one Bernhard Schilling who first stamp'd this kind of Coin But this fancy is confuted by Schottelius who nevertheless is himself baffel'd in the Etymology of the word The Gross had its name given it because 't was the greatest peice of mony made use of in the infancy of coinage The lower Saxons changing according to their manner the high Dutch s into t call it a Grott whence we have our word Great A Mark was formerly no peculiar piece of Coin but a certain weight of mony worth thirty six of the Marks now used in Prussia So that it had not this name as Loccenius guesses from the German word Mark because 't was marked or stamped with some particular Coin but was only used in that Country in reckoning of mony as we count by pounds and marks and the French by Livres though neither of us have any piece of mony of that value Gulder signifies no more then a peice of Gold Coin A Dollar or Thaler as the Dutch write it has its name from the German Thal a valley or dale because first coined at the Mines in Joachim's-dale in the year 1517 whence for a while instead of the word Thalerus they used Joachimicus for a Dollar The worth and value of every one of these are almost yearly changed by the continual allays of brass and copper mixt with silver and other intrigues of state That the Venedi the first inhabitants of some parts of Prussia spoke the Slavonian tongue Language is beyond all controversy After them the Goths brought in a dialect of the Celtick little differing from the German tongue but this wrought little change among the Prussians who till the arrival of the Teutonick order spoke as they do still in many places a language fundamentally the same with what the Russians Polonians and Lithuanians now use Grunovius indeed a Prussian born is of another opinion because the Polanders do not at all understand a Preusner and the Lithuanians very little But how invalid this argument is any one may perceive who shall consider with what difficulty an Austrian Lunenburger and Fleming and how much more a Dane German and Englishman would discourse together A mixture of the Slavonian and German tongues and a revolution of perhaps two thousand years must needs alter the Prussian language considerably from what it was at first What time Prussia Religion with the adjoyning Countries began to leave off their Idolatrous worship and to be converted to Christianity is hard to discover Stanislaus Lubienscius Bishop of Plockzo thinks Andrew the Apostle first planted the Gospel in these Northern Climates Others more punctual in the story tell us That the same Apostle sayl'd out of Greece by the Euxine Sea and coming up the Boristhenes or Dnieper landed at Kiow then the Metropolis of Russia whence he went forward baptizing and converting the Heathens as far as the Baltick Sea Some upon as shallow ground as the former will have St. Bartholomew and St. Thaddaeus first preachers in Prussia However all agree in this That towards the latter end of the tenth Century St. Adalbert or Albert Bishop of Prague in Bohemia and say the Polish writers afterwards Archbishop of Gnesna came through Poland into Prussia where he either first planted or restor'd Christianity But the Heathenish Priests perceiving innovation of religion inconsistent with their interest made the people so incensed against St. Adalbert that they slew him barbarously at Fischhausen in Sambland in the year 997. Upon this Boleslaus the first King of Poland enters Prussia with a great army and brought the inhabitants to these conditions of peace That they should pay tribute to Poland and embrace the Christian religion And to prevent for the future all relapse into Idolatry and superstition he burnt up the great Oak at Romanove the temple of three of their superior Gods But no sooner had he left them then they forsook Christianity and return'd to their Idols After him three of his successours of the same name did several times reduce them to Christianity and homage to the Crown of Poland But all in vain For at the first opportunity they were sure to throw of both yokes In the beginning of the thirteenth Century the Polish Nobility having rent that Kingdome in pieces neglected the conversion of the Prussians for a while However about the year 1215 Christianus a Cistertian Monk was very busy in confirming them in the principles they had received and to that end by the Pope's command took upon him the authority of a Bishop But finding his own power insignificant he was quickly forced to beg the assistance of Conrade Duke of Masovia This expedient also proved unsuccessful For the Knights of Dobrin whom the Duke had opposed to the fury of the Prussians making incursions into Masovia were all vanquished and slain by the Idolaters When all these expedients prov'd unsucccessful the Christians begun to consider of some other means of converting the Prussians since no fair usage would work upon such a stubborn people as they found these were they pitcht upon the Knights of the Teutonick Order famous at that time all Christendom over as most likely either to perswade or force them into Christianity Conrade Duke of Masovia pleased with these proposals immediately dispatches letters to the Master of the Order profering him the land of Culm and auxiliary forces in case he should meet with any opposition Upon this in the year 1226 Herman de Salza fourth Master of the Teutonic Order forthwith sends Herman de Balke one of his Knights among the Prussians with the title of Superintendent afterwards changed into Provincial of Prussia But so vigorously did the Heathens oppose these undertakings that it was fifty three years before they could be brought to renounce their Idolatry After Christianity began to take root among them several Bishopricks and Monasteries were founded Notwithstanding all which many Heathenish Cities were winked
an oath taken in Norway and Iseland we read Hialpi mier suo Fryer og Niordur og hin al matke As i.e. So help me Frier and Niordur a Norwegian King Deified for his noble exploits and the almighty Asian i.e. Woden From him the Iselanders call the fourth day of the week Odensdagur and we Wendesday The Nobility of the ancient people of the North were wonderfully ambitious of fetching their pedigree down in a streight line from this Patriarch and God of the Northern Nations Hence possibly it comes that in some Copies of our Anglo-Saxonic Chronicle the Genealogy of our English King Cerdic with several others is run up to one who is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the son of Woden and there the pedegree breaks of As if in so doing they had sufficiently imitated St. Luke's Genealogy of our Saviour unto Adam which was the son of God And hence as may well be conjectured the Islanders do to this day call their Noblemen Godar and Hoffgodar i.e. such as are of the lineage or family of the Gods Besides these two we sometimes read of Freyer as in the Norwegian oath before quoted one of Wodens companions and Friga Wodens wife whence our Friday with several others of less note Arngrim allows 〈…〉 that several Christians came out of Norway into Iseland with Ingulf in the year 874 but that the Isle was then converted to the Christian faith he denies A full and total conversion he says was never attempted till about an hundred years after The first that openly preached the Gospel was one Frideric a Saxon born who came over into this Isle in the year 981 and succeeded so well that within three years after there were several Churches built The Iselandic Chronicle mentions one Thangbrandt another outlandish Bishop who came into Iseland in the year 997. At last in the year 1000 it was agreed on in a general Assembly of the whole Isle That the worship of Heathenish Idols being abandoned they would unanimously embrace the Christian Religion In the year 1056 Isleif an Iselander was consecrated Bishop of the whole Isle and enter'd upon the See of Schalholt the year following It is very observable what is recorded in the Iselandic Chronicle that this Isleif married Dalla the daughter of one Thorwald and by her had three sons The eldest of which named Gysser succeeded his father in the Bishoprick of Schalholt altho he also is said to have married Stenun the daughter of Thorgrin Since that time the inhabitants of Iseland have continued stedfast in the Christian faith Gudbrand Thorlac who entred the Bishoprick of Holen in the year 1571 abolished the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of Rome and introduced the Augustan Confession which to this day is maintained all over the Isle The same Bishop first procured a Printing-house to be set up in Iseland and afterwards caused the Bible and several other godly books to be translated into the Iselandic tongue and printed Christian the third King of Denmark founded two Free-schools in Iseland one at Holen and the other at Skalholt which by the munificence of his successors Frideric the second and Christian the fourth were improved into two considerable Colledges where young men were instructed in the liberal Arts and principles of Religion till they were thought fit for the ministry Of late years many ingenious men and learned Iselanders have been bred up in the University at Copenhagen We have before taken a survey of the mean Cottages or Burrows of the Rusticks in Iseland Cities and we cannot expect that their Citizens should live in much better fashion There are only two Cities in the Isle Holen and Skalholt the one the seat of their Northern the other of their Southern Bishop In both of them the houses are built of wood rarely of stone cover'd with either boards or turf The Cathedral at Holen according to Arngrim's description either is or at least has been a stately Fabrick In his days the Church-porch had on each side five pillars which were fourteen ells high I suppose he means Norwegian ells one of which is about three quarters of a yard English and five in thickness The Quire and Body of the Church were proportionable to the Porch This noble structure was blown down in the year 1584 but magnificently rebuilt at the charge of Frideric II. King of Denmark within four years after Neither of these Cities look any better then one of our ordinary Villages for the houses are not contiguous nor defended by any fortification or rampire Blefkenius tells us how truly I know not of a pleasant plain in the middle of Iseland Judicature where formerly stood an high flaming mountain which by degrees burnt away This plain says he is encompassed with huge rocks which make it inaccessible excepting only in one place and there too you have room for no more then one passenger at once From the tops of two of these rocks fall down two large rivers which with a terrible noise are swallowed up by a whirl-pool in the midst of the plain Hither yearly upon the twenty-ninth day of June repair all such as have any suit at Law or other controversie to be determined At the passage stands a guard of soldiers who admit all in that desire the favour but suffer none to go out without a pass from the Governor As soon as all who have any business are come in the Governor or Lieutenant of the Isle reads his Commission from the King of Denmark That done he gives his charge insisting much upon the good will and kindness which the King his Master and himself bear the Iselanders and advising them all to administer justice without respect of any manner of persons whatever After this he returns to his Tent where in a godly Sermon preach'd to him and the rest of the Assembly the necessity of punishing offenders and vindicating the injur'd is declared As soon as Sermon is ended the twelve chosen Justices whom they call Lochmaders i.e. men of the Law sit down on the ground with each a book of the Iselandic Laws in his hand After the Plaintiff and Defendant have both given in what they have to say they all arise and every man examines privately the verdict of his book in the case proposed Returning they consult awhile of the sentence and then unanimously pronounce it If any considerable doubt arise among them which they themselves cannot easily solve they consult the Lieutenant but will not give him authority or leave to decide the controversie by pronouncing of sentence These twelve Jurymen of whom one always is Foreman have great respect shew'n them as long as these Assizes last They have power to determine all Civil causes and to pronounce condemnation as they think convenient against all Criminals Those that are condemn'd to dye as Adulterers Murderers and notorious Thieves are beheaded but smaller misdemeanors are marked in the forehead with an hot iron This
had from the Lutherans the authority of Calvin prevail'd so exceedingly as to be entertain'd in France Scotland the Netherlands a great part of Poland and many Provinces of Germany Whereas Lutheranism never reach'd much further then it was at first spread by Luther himself The Kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden embraced Luther's Doctrine very early and the generality of the inhabitants of both those Nations profess it to this day But in the Dominions of the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburg Luther's credit decays daily and is thrust out by Calvinism The present Elector of Brandenburg is a Calvinist and encourages men of his own perswasion in the Universities of Francfurt upon the Oder Konigsberg and Rostoc This makes the Scholars of Leipsic who are strict Lutherans dread his coming into their neighbourhood when he comes to take possession of Holie which falls into his hands upon the death of the present Administrator Augustus Duke of Saxony For the Lutherans hate a Calvinist as much as a Turk insomuch that in the Great Church at Leipsic they have the pictures of the Devil Ignatius Loyola and John Calvin hung in one frame with this subscription The three great enemies of Christ and the Christian Religion At Wittemberg the only support which Luthers Doctrine has left is Abraham Calovius an old Gentleman that has taken great pains to run down all opposers of his opinions But the greatest part of the University begin to close with Calixtus Junior one of the present Professors in the University of Helmstadt and his followers who are stout pleaders for Comprehension In the Kingdom of Bohemia Arch-Dukedoms of Bavaria and Lorain the Territories of the three Spiritual Electors and other Bishoprics which still remain in the hands of the Clergy the Popish Religion is still profess'd A short Account of the GERMAN Emperors THat the vast tract of Land which to the Ancients was known by the general name of Germany was subject to several Princes and never acknowledged the Supremacy of any one Governor except perhaps in the time of war in which all the particular Provinces were mutually concern'd to unite and defend themselves from the assaults of some potent foreign enemy before the coming of Charles the Great to the Imperial Crown seems plain from the whole History of that Nation From this great Prince we must therefore begin to reckon the German Emperors A. D. 800. Charles son of Pepin King of France was Anointed and Crown'd Emperor by Pope Leo the Third upon Christmass-day He had before this rescued Italy and a great part of Germany from the tyranny of the Lombards and annex'd the whole Dominions of their King Desiderius whom he took prisoner to the Kingdom of the Franks In the year 772 he began to make war upon the Saxons at that time the most potent people in Germany in hopes to reduce them which he at last effected to Christianity Wherever he conquer'd he establish'd the Christian Religion and erected Schools for the education of young children in the same Doctrine He was a great Benefactor to the University at Paris where he would himself frequent Disputations and reward the industry of those he found to be deserving men Besides he was the Founder of an incredible number of great Schools and petit Universities in Germany insomuch that we shall scarce in the following Description mention a Town of considerable note in the Empire which has not receiv'd some signal kindness from him I know not whether it were his Acts of Piety or Prowess got him the title of Great but doubtless both deserv'd it After he had been Emperor fourteen years he died at seventy-two years of Age in the year 814 and was buried at Aix la Chapelle where he had built a Church and design'd also to have establish'd the chief Residence of the German Emperors All his Epitaph was Magni Caroli Regis Christianissimi Romanorum Imperatoris corpus hoc Sepulchro conditum jacet He bequeath'd his Empire to his Son Ludowic then King of Aquitain 814. Ludowic or Lewis for his piety and zeal in promoting the Christian Religion surnam'd the Godly succeeded his Father He was Crown'd Emperor by Pope Stephen IV. at Rheims in France Soon after his entrance upon the Empire he procur'd a translation of the Bible into the Saxon tongue Copies of which he caused to be distributed among the Commonalty The greatest exploit of war which he is reported to have done was the expulsion of the Saracens out of Italy Besides this he took his Nephew Bernhard King of Lombardy who had endeavour'd to make himself Master of Italy prisoner and putting out the eyes of him and his followers condemned them all to a Monastery By his first wife Irmengarde he had three Sons Lotharius Ludowic and Pipin who overpower'd with the perswasions of some bad companions rebelled against their Father whom they took prisoner and shut up in a Monastery Some say his Son Ludowic released him willingly but the most generally receiv'd story is that most of his Subjects rose up in Arms resolving to rescue their Emperor Which Ludowic seeing he submitted himself to his Father and begg'd pardon After he was set at liberty he march'd with his own and his Son Ludowic's Forces against Lotharius who had raised the strongest rebellion but dyed on the way at Mentz in the twenty-seventh year of his Reign and sixty-fourth of his Age. 840. Lotharius the Emperor Ludowic's eldest Son succeeded his Father in the whole Empire having thrown out his two Brethren who were left partners with him He was the first that annex'd Austrasia which was from him call'd by the High Dutch Loth-reich by the French Lot-regne now Lorreign i. e. Lotharius's Kingdom to the German Empire After he had ruled fifteen years he retired into a Monastery at Treves where he lived some time after In his days Pope Joan under the covert name of John VIII as the Historians of that time generally relate was Head of the Church of Rome 855. Ludowic II. a Prince of wonderful Piety and Learning succeeded in the Empire upon his Fathers resignation He conquer'd the Sclavonians and converted them to Christianity defended Italy from the incursions of the Saracens and made provision in most parts of his Empire for poor Widows and Orphans He had a great quarrel with the Court of Rome for electing a Pope without acquainting him But the Popish writers tell the story otherwise and say That when the Emperor heard how that Court had elected Pope Adrian II. into the room of Nicolas I. without staying for his voice he commended them highly for so doing Nay they make him give this reason for his approbation of their proceedings Qui enim fieri posset ut peregrinus hospes dignoscere posset in aliena republica quis potissimum caeteris praeferendus sit i. e. How is it possible that a stranger should be so well skill'd in a foreign Commonwealth as to be able to pitch upon a man fittest
Italy it self Besides these ornaments the City is eminent for the great Exchange in it of all manner of merchandise the plenty it has of all sorts of fresh and salt Fish Wood either for fuel or timber Corn and many other rich Commodities The Citizens have been always commended for their great civility to strangers and no less praised for their undoubted valour and resolution in opposing the violences of any foreign enemies A more sufficient demonstration of their courage cannot be expected then they gave in defending their Town so bravely as they did against the forces of the Elector of Brandenburg in the year 1677. Which famous siege having possibly been one of the most memorable pieces of Gallantry if we consider the resolution and courage of both parties that these later Ages have produc'd will in this place merit a more particular relation then ordinary The Elector had the year before made an attempt upon this City but was in too weak a condition considering the posture of the place and the strength of the Garrison that defended it to pursue his intentions any further Whereupon he resolved for that time to withdraw his forces and to provide himself better before he would venture upon a second onset Accordingly that winter was spent in raising new Regiments and providing all manner of ammunition requisite for the carrying on of this design the Summer following All things thus in readiness on the fifth of July in the year 1677. His Highness parted from Berlin at the Head of an Army consisting of Twenty-four Regiments whereof Nine of Horse Ten of Foot and Five of Dragoons besides-Foot Guards and the assistance of Four Thousand Lunenburgers under the command of Major General Enten By these Forces the City was closely besieged from the seventh of July to the twenty-sixth of December following on which day the Town was surrendred upon the conditions following 1. That all the Swedish Soldiers should march out with Drums beating and Colours flying and have safe conduct for themselves with their bag and baggage as far as Liefland but all the Germans whether Officers or common Soldiers quitting the service of the King of Sweden should be listed under the Elector II. If any of the Swedish goods could not at present be carried off it should be lawful for the owner to leave them behind him to be restored upon demand as soon as the Frost was over and the River navigable III. A general pardon should be granted to all Partisans and Forragers excepting such as are known to have committed some notorious murder or other misdemeanour contrary to the Law of Arms in their Sally IV. All the wounded and sick Soldiers should have leave to ly in the City till they were cured V. All the prisoners on both sides should be set at liberty VI. That at the request of the Swedish Lieutenant General all Fugitives should be pardon'd and receiv'd back to their respective Regiments VII His Electoral Highness should grant to the said Lieutenant General Wulfzen the liberty to carry off any two pieces of Cannon which he should chuse VIII The Wives Widows and Children of the Swedish Officers should be permitted to tarry in Stetin if they thought fit till Easter and at their departure have pass-ports granted them IX All Officers of the King of Sweden whether Civil or Military should remain full Proprietors of all their goods movable and immovable paying the same homage to the Elector as they had formerly done to the aforesaid King X. Provided always that if any of the said Officers were willing to part with any such goods he should have a just price paid him and licence to carry of the same whither himself should please XI The Elector should not make any alteration in Religion XII The University and Church of St. Mary should enjoy their ancient Priviledges and Revenues XIII His Electoral Highness should take into his own protection all the Priests and Schoolmasters in the Town defending them from all the insolencies and injuries of his Soldiers These with some few more less considerable Articles being signed by both parties the Elector enter'd the Town a great part whereof lay miserably buried in its ruins the effects of the valour and prowess of its inhabitants During this siege the Brandenburgers are said to have spent thirty thousand Granadoes 24000 Hand-Granadoes an hundred and fifty thousand Cannon-shot and ninety-eight thousand pound of powder By the late Treaty of Nimeguen this Town was again restor'd to the King of Sweden II. â—â—â—min CAMMIN Formerly a Bishop's See whose Prelates had the priviledge of being invested and confirm'd immediately by the Pope himself In the Treaty of Munster 't was order'd that after the death of the then incumbent Canons the Bishopric of Cammin should be turn'd into a small Principality and descend upon the Elector of Brandenburg III. â—â—â—â—â—g COLBERG A strong Town on the mouth of the Persant annex'd formerly to the Bishopric of Cammin by Barnimus I. Duke of Pomeren and therefore given to the Elector of Brandenburg by the Westphalian Treaty The convenience of the Haven and plenty of good Salt made here and sent into other Countries has invited a considerable number of Merchants to traffick and enrich the Town IV. 〈◊〉 WOLLIN At this day a poor Town but the reliques of one of the greatest Cities that these parts afforded Adam Bremensis asserts positively that Julinum which was the ancient name of this Town turn'd afterwards into Wollin was once the largest City in Europe And no doubt it was a place extraordinary strong and populous that was alone able to maintain a war against the whole Kingdom of Denmark and to bring home its Monarch Suenotto three several times prisoner In those days 't was by all Nations resorted to as the greatest Mart-Town excepting perhaps Constantinople in Europe and the Danes Swedes Russians Jews and several other people had here their peculiar Streets and Houses of Exchange But within a while their Apostacy from the Christian Religion brought Gods heavy wrath and vengeance upon them which destroy'd a great part of their City by Lightning and Fire from Heaven and the rest by the hands of Waldemar King of Denmark who falling upon it unawares in the year 1170 with a great Army destroy'd the very ruins of the Town and burnt up what was only left its Ashes Never since has this place been any thing considerable scarcely deserving the name of a City or great Town being remarkable for nothing save that it gives name to the whole Isle where 't is situate which from it is call'd Das Wollinsche Werder V. 〈◊〉 USEDOM This was once after the destruction of its neighbour Julinum a Town of good traffick which was chiefly occasion'd by the resort of the Danes and Poles who remov'd their trade hither In the year 1473 the whole Town with the Town-Hall and all the Shops and Goods of the Merchants was burnt down after which time it
unanimous are sufficient to defend the whole Island against a potent enemy The Language anciently spoken in Rugen was a Dialect of the Slavonian or Wendish tongue Language But after the Dukes of Pomeren assisted by the Citizens of Stralsund as shall be shew'n hereafter had possession of the Island the Wendish manners and language were utterly abolished insomuch that 't is recorded in the Annals of Rugen as a memorable thing that in the year 1404 there was one old woman left in the Isle that understood perfectly and could speak the Slavonian tongue At this day the greatest part of the inhabitants speak the language of the Lower Saxons and some few especially where the King of Sweden's Officers keep their residence speak Swedish The ancient inhabitants of this Isle were the last of all the Northern Nations that were converted from their Idolatry and Paganism Religion and embrac'd the Christian Religion Helmondus seems to point more especially at the Rugians when he says Inter omnes autem Borealium populos sola Slavorum Provincia remansit caeteris durior atque ad credendum tardior However about the year 813 a company of hardy Monks ventur'd to preach up Christianity to these stubborn people and succeeded so well in the undertaking as in a very short time to bring over a great many of them to the true faith But they as quickly abandon'd Christianity and relaps'd into their former Idolatry For as upon the first preaching of the Gospel in Lycaonia the inhabitants of that Country were ready to do sacrifice to St. Barnabas and St. Paul under the names of Jupiter and Mercury so these poor people mistaking God's Ministers for God himself idoliz'd St. Vite a poor Monk that had undertaken their conversion by the name of Swant which name was afterwards given to a monstrous four headed Image which they worshipp'd in a sumptuous Temple To this Idol all the Rugians repair'd as to an Oracle for advice and the foreign Merchants that had made a safe Voyage were obliged to offer up some of their best Merchandises as a tribute of thanksgiving to this grand tutelary God of the Island Three hundred Horses were kept constantly for the service of Swant one whereof was white and never rid but by the chief Priest This Horse was now and then shew'n to the people in a morning all over besmear'd with dirt and sweat the Priest in the mean time protesting to the multitude that Swant himself had brought the beast into that pickle by engaging with and pursuing the Enemies of Rugen the night before The manner of worshipping this Idol which stood in Arcona the famous City in old Rugen before mention'd was thus The chief Priest looking into a Horn which the Image held in its right hand and which had been fill'd the year before with a precious liquor prognosticated from the good quantity or scarcity of the liquor therein contain'd the plenty or dearth of the year following That done with his lips shut for fear of harming the Idol with his breath he very solemnly poured out the remaining liquor at the feet of the Image and having replenish'd it afresh plac'd it again with a great deal of reverence in the God's right hand whence he had taken it down These Ceremonies being ended the rest of that day was spent in anniversary feasting and jollity In this miserable condition the Rugians continued for some ages until by a continual conversation with their neighbours the Pomeranians they were almost insensibly turn'd Christians and about five hundred years ago at last wholly quitted their Idolatrous practices and at this day the inhabitants of Rugen are as zealous assertors and maintainers of the Augsburg Confession as any Germans whatever The Isle was anciently govern'd by Princes of its own Gâ—â—â—mers whose Dominions reach'd beyond the narrow boundaries the Sea had set them a great way into Pomeren taking in all the Territories near Stralsund Gripswald and other places now subject to the King of Sweden Antiquity will afford us a Register of Eleven Princes of Rugen and those in the following order 1. Wislaus who is said to have been Prince of Rugen in the days of the Emperor Otho I. about the year of Christ 938. 2. Grimus Remarkable for nothing but his filling up a space in the Catalogue of these Princes 3. Cruco or Crito At the same time Prince of Rugen and petty King of the Obatriti in the year 1100 who after he had for some years exercis'd Idolatry and Tyranny in his Dominions was deposed and slain by Henry Son of Gothscalc another inconsiderable King of the said Obitriti at the entreaty of his wife Schlavine Daughter to Swantibor I. Prince of Pomeren 4. Raze A great Warriour who besieged Lubec and took it He died in the year 1141. 5. Teslaus A Prince who had continual wars with the Kings of Denmark two whereof Eric VI. and Sueno III. he as often overcame as he was beaten by them but at last was utterly vanquish'd and made tributary by King Waldemar 6. Jarimar Teslaus's Brother The first Prince of Rugen that embraced Christianity 7. Barmita arimar's Son He died in the year 1241. 8. Witzlaus II. Barmita's Brother and Founder of the Monastery at Campen He died in the year 1247. 9. Jarimar II. Witzlaus the second 's Son who immediately after his admittance to the Government rebell'd against the King of Denmark and at last after many Engagements got himself and his successors eas'd from that yoke in the year 1259. 10. Witzlaus III. Jarimar the second 's Son A great promoter of the Christian Religion in Liefland where himself sometimes took upon him the office of a Priest preaching Christianity to the poor Infidels of those parts 11. Witzlaus IV. The last Prince of Rugen of this Family Upon the unruly growth of the great City of Stralsund the Merchants and Burgers finding themselves able enough to grapple with this Prince were resolv'd to be no longer subject to him or any of his Successors if by violence or otherwise they could procure their liberty whereupon they openly proclaim'd themselves a free City declaring that neither the Princes of Rugen nor any of their neighbours could lawfully pretend to exact any Tribute or Homage from the Citizens of Stralsund Upon the noise of this revolt Prince Witzlaus assisted by some of the neighbouring Kings and Princes besieged Stralsund demanding submission together with an humble acknowledgment of their unpardonable crime in daring to make so traiterous a revolt but in vain For the Stralsunders not only persisted in the resolution of asserting their Liberty to the last but bravely withstood the assaults of Witzlaus and his Associates and after many hot disputes slew this Prince in a sally thereby putting an end to the controversie and whole Lineage of the Princes of Rugen in the year 1325. After this the Island of Rugen with other parts of that Principality upon the Continent came into the hands of the Dukes of
or Runi Helmondus I think first taught them to call themselves by this latter name fancying that the antient Insula Runorum whom Adam Bremensis calls fortissimam slavorum gentem must needs be Rugen Whereas 't is more probable that the Runi as the Learned Ol. Wormius conjectures liv'd further Eastward near the Coasts of Liefland where to this day there is a small Island called by the Neighbourhood Die Rune However let the Ancestours of the modern Rugian Noblemen be what they will they have this good mark of Antiquity that they pay Tithes duelier of all manner of Grain Fruits Wool c. then any people in Germany and give larger allowances and more respect to their Clergy Men. The Rusticks pay easier Rents then is usual in other places and therefore have reason to give as they commonly do that respect and honour to their Landlords which all the antiquity they brag of can challenge MARCHIONATUS BRANDENBURGICUS Authore Olao Iohannis Gotho Gustaui Mag. R. S. Cosmographo To the HONORABLE S. r LYONEL JENKINS Judge of the Admiralty this Mapp is Humbly Dedicated THE MARQUISATE OF BRANDENBURG DIE Marck which is now a word commonly used in Germany to express all the Territories subject to the Elector of Brandenburg as he is only Marquise of the Empire signifies no more then the outmost Borders or Limits of a Country So that Markgraf instead of which we use the French word Marquis is properly Judex or Comes Limitaneus which we may English Lord Lieutenant of the Marches And this Title seems reasonably enough appropriated to the Marquises of Brandenburg who being seated on the outmost bounds of the Empire might possibly heretofore supply the places of the Emperor's Delegates in hearing and determining Causes as well as opposing all violent incursions of foreigners The City of Brandenburg which lends the Marquis his Title and was once the Metropolis of these parts is now decay'd into a despicable Village of which the Reader may expect a larger account anon when we come to the Description of the Middle Marck The whole Marquisate which Dresser tells us is seven great days journey either in length or breadth is bounded on the North with the Dukedomes of Mecklenburg and Pomeren 〈◊〉 on the North-West with Lunenburg on the West with Brunswic on the South-West with Magdeburg on the South with Anhalt the Upper Saxony and Lusatia on the South-East with Silesia on the East with Poland and lastly on the North-East with Prussia The Country is generally Sandy and full of Woods and Forests affording good store of Corn but small quantities of any other provisions In some parts of the Marquisate you may meet with good Flocks of Sheep but rarely find any considerable Herds of Kine The Bores near Francfurt Brandenburg and Berlin brag of their Vineyards and think the Vintage they have yearly worth the toil of planting and looking after their Vines but their neighbours have not so good an opinion of the mean Liquor which these poor men boast of for in the Upper Saxony 't is usual to frighten young children to School by threatning to make them drink Brandenburg Wine And this Proverb is ordinary among them Vinum auss den Alten Marck Calefacit ut Quarck Now the word Quarck in their Dialect properly signifies a squeez'd handful of new Cheese but is commonly used in a metaphorical sense to denote any sort of insipid stuff whatever Their Salt is brought to them up the Elb Havel and Spree from other Countries to whom they return Corn and Fish the two chief Commodities of this Province The Elector of Brandenburg's Territories do not afford such Mines of Silver as several Countries subject to the Duke of Saxony Mines and some other Princes of the Empire Which is one main reason why the money coin'd in this Marquisate is much baser mettal then what we find currant in Saxony and the Dukedoms of Brunswic and Lunenburg In some places they make a shift to dig up small parcels of Brass Iron and Copper but scarce any-where enough to supply the necessary occasions of the neighbourhood The ancient inhabitants of this Country were the Varini and Naithones Inhabitants two branches of the vast Nation of the Suevians who were succeeded by the Helvoldi Wilini Beirani and some other Tribes of the Slavonians But the Emperor Henry I. having in the year 620 conquer'd and thrown out the greatest part of these people bestow'd these Territories upon Sigefride Earl of Rengelheim who with some of his successors new peopled the desolate Country with Golonies out of Holland Zealand Westphalia Saxony and Franconid So that the present Brandenburgers are a mixt medly of several different German Nations as may easily be observ'd from the confusion of Dialects which make up the Language of this people The generality of them are so lamentably poor and miserable that to ly on a Bed of clean Straw is esteem'd the character of one of better fashion then his neighbours Soon after the Emperor Henry the First 's conquest of Brandenburg Religion the inhabitants were converted to Christianity and under the government of the Elector Joachim the First embrac'd the tenents of M. Luther In this state they continued undisturbed until the breach betwixt George William Father of the present Elector and the Duke of Neuburg For the latter having married a Daughter of the Duke of Bavaria at that time the most potent Prince of the Popish party embraced the tenents of the Church of Rome fancying as 't is conjectur'd that this expedient might be a means to secure the aid and assistance of the King of Spain if his occasions should require it on the other hand the Elector marrying a Sister of Frideric the Fifth Prince Elector Palatine of the Rhine and grand Protector of the Calvinists adhered to the opinions of Calvin hoping thereby to engage the Netherlands to befriend him upon occasion But when afterwards he was perswaded by his Wife to put out an Edict for suppressing the Lutheran Discipline and Doctrine and authorizing the Calvinian throughout his Dominions which was done in the year 1615 all the inhabitants of the Marquisate unanimously rebell'd against him and had probably put an end to his Line and Government if they had not met with a speedy redress of their grievances Hereupon the Elector was forc'd to compose the business by revoking this Edict and setting forth a new one in its place whereby 't was order'd that the Forms of Divine Service should be used in all public Churches within the Marquisat of Brandenburg according to the Institution of Luther only and that the Elector with his Marchioness and those few more that were of their opinion should not be permitted to hear a Calvinist Preacher in any other place then a private Chappel However these means were found insufficient to secure the people from all innovations in Church-Discipline For upon the increase of the Electors Family and daily conflux of new Favourites